


A Helping Hand

by laineybug04



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Coming of Age, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Some dark themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24308272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laineybug04/pseuds/laineybug04
Summary: Amy has a hard time being taken seriously after Chaos destroyed Station Square. So when she has a vision of a boy stuck in a capsule who may be the key to Eggman's next big scheme, no one is willing to listen or help her. Determined to help save the day this time, Amy strikes out on her own to save the mysterious black hedgehog from her dreams.
Relationships: Amy Rose/Shadow the Hedgehog
Comments: 16
Kudos: 64





	1. Visions of Grandeur

**Author's Note:**

> I saw this concept while browsing tumblr. Special thanks to mewmewhakusho and another-sonic-blog for letting me play around with this idea. I've been a Shad/Amy shipper for YEARS and I've never seen this idea play out before. Here's my take.
> 
> Extra special thanks to Nothin' Fancy for beta reading for me once again!

**Visions of Grandeur**

_A delicate white-gloved hand hovered over a deck of cards spread in an arc on a table covered in red lace. The cards were shiny and looked almost brand new. Amy knew better- they were a family heirloom passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years. If her mother was to be believed, they were almost as old as the chaos emeralds! The candle sat to the right of the cards- its flickering light dancing against the shadows, causing the patterns on the cards to sway with them._

_A young pink hedgehog stared with green eyes bright from excitement, and glowed in contrast to the dark, ominous mist which surrounded her. The mist was thick with sinister whispers, yet the girl hardly heard or cared to listen. Her anticipation at what was in store trumped any caution she may have had._

_She greedily took three cards from the deck and laid them hastily but neatly in front of her. One straight horizontal line that would reveal her destiny. Her hands gently laid them perfectly straight, over the first to the left that represented the past that she needed to know. She continued over the present that the unknown past had affected. Finally she caressed the final one on the right- the future! She twirled in place, her joy was just too much! Sure the last one tended to be fuzzy, but she could usually guess based on the first two, so it was mostly just to complete the rule of three._

_Amy Rose was no stranger to tarot readings, in fact she had even used them to find out how to be with her hero, Sonic! They'd shown her Little Planet, where Sonic had bravely saved her life. They'd shown her future- a life of adventure, thrill, new friends and becoming a hero alongside her Sonic in their fight against the old, and nasty, Dr. Eggman._

_A gleeful smile took over as she imagined what the cards would show her now! Their first date? Kiss? Wedding day? THEIR CHILDREN? She giggled in sheer delight at the prospects of her happy future. But even as her heart pounded, demanding she quickly reveal her fate, she took a shaky breath to calm her nerves. She wanted to retain some adult-like dignity- this was her future after all! Amy steadied her hand, and flipped over the first card on the left._

_The shadowy mist that surrounded her table converged on her and turned to an unforgiving steel color. Her smile faded and her happiness ebbed away- the past was almost never this cryptic. Not unless something horrible had happened. She searched through the fog but only found a large window with thick glass and a foggy reflection. Immediately her heart began to thump painfully, and so quickly, she felt it could give Sonic a run for his money. She pressed her hand to the cold glass and listened to the horrors going on behind her. She heard screaming, gun-shots, and shouted orders over stomping boots. When she inhaled, her nose was assaulted with an unfamiliar scent, it was a sharp coppery smell, with a dark, burnt undertone to it. Her whole body hummed with fear and hopelessness, a heavy weight of despair pressed down on her from all sides._

_Amy tried to breathe, and her throat seized, so desperate to help, but with no way to know what was wrong, she floundered. Even in a lucid dream, it was so hard to make out the view behind the glass. It was blurred at first, but as she strained her eyes, she started to make out small white dots within a deep velvety black. The sounds behind her muted slightly as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. And then she realized, she was staring out into the void of space. She looked down, and to her despair, she saw her beautiful home planet of Mobius being drenched in blood that was flowing from the window._

_She stared on in horror- she had no way to fix this. Worse still, she hadn't seen Sonic, or really anyone who could help her. She turned back into the fog, trying to see something, anything that the fog could show her how to stop the blood. She searched but still saw nothing and only heard the same conniving whispers under the sounds of the invaders. She growled in frustration and just jumped into the fog. She cried out, "Where are you!? Please, I can-"_

_She heard a gunshot, one that was louder than the rest, almost as though it was by her head. That wasn't what stopped her in her tracks. No- it was a scream that was so broken and filled with such heartbreak that she'd never heard in her life. The voice was young, maybe only a few years older than her, and it was deep and gravely with fear. Tears burst from her eyes as her heart broke from the anguish in his scream._

_"MARIA!"_

_Amy could feel herself being pulled back out of the dream but she fought it, bringing herself back to the table and looking at the face of the card. She rolled her eyes, she should have known- Eggman's emblem was plastered over the dark background of space- it's eyes bleeding down to the earth below._

_"The Death Egg," she decided, shaking her head, "Like that's a big surprise."_

_Still, her whole body shook. She knew the terrors Eggman had brought onto the world- the Great War between mobians and humans had been unkind to both sides. Eggman, specifically, had chosen himself over either side. It was only recently that Princess Sally and King Nigel had reached out and cultivated a more friendly relationship with them. But the history between the two people was still painful. Even with Eggman as a common enemy..._

_"I wonder if the United Federation will be involved," she murmured cryptically._

_She glared skeptically at the second card, her excitement from earlier had been murdered and thrown out into a ditch. Now she was hesitant to see what else these cards had in store for her. Her frown deepened and she squared her shoulders- she knew how her tarot worked. It would not show her the past unless it was going to have a huge impact on the unseen present._

_Amy flipped the card._

_This time the mist retreated entirely and she found herself deep in the heart of a jungle. Lush greenery surrounded her, and the warm, tropical wind rushed around her, making the leaves rustle in a soothing lullaby. Her head bent backwards and she saw small twinkles of the afternoon sky between the gaps in the thick canopy above. Her eyes closed for a moment, as she felt peace enter her troubled heart and chase away the horror from the previous vision. She took a deep breath, allowing the damp, warm air to embrace her. She felt light, joyful, and her feet started to move in rhythm with her happiness. As she twirled, her eyes caught the glimmer of gun-metal that froze her heart._

_She fell before she could get a better look at it._

_A gasp ripped out of her throat as she fell into darkness, but then there was a glow of harsh chalk on a concrete background, 'Was that red chalk?'._

_Her fall slowed to a stop before she hit the ground and the writing on the wall was gone. Before her was what looked like some medical, mechanical monstrosity. She looked around to try and get a grip on where she was, but found only more rusted metal, abused cables, and neglected machinery around her. She looked up and saw the ceiling so far ahead, she wondered if she wouldn't die from the fall, normally. The walls were an uninteresting metal grey, and Amy decided to move her attention back to the console in the middle of the room._

_As she got closer, she found the thing was so old and covered with dust, she couldn't quite see into the capsule. But she could see the outline of someone inside. She rubbed at the glass desperately, calling out to them. She let out a frustrated huff when she couldn't get them to respond. Instead she made her way to the console attached to it. She ran her hands over the dusty console and saw four buttons specifically that glowed through the dust on them._

_"A... R...I...M..." Amy read out loud, "Arim?"_

_The scream from earlier ripped into the forefront of her mind and she realized the 'A' key had been pressed twice. She looked on in the capsule in sadness, "Are you Maria?"_

_The capsule pulsed, not in assent, but in Anger. Red mist seeped from the cracks in the capsule and the walls echoed a scream that was much older than the one she'd heard before. This was the roar of an older man- not a child like before. But before she found herself back in the room with the red table, she felt the room ring with a terrible, evil laugh- very much like the one she'd heard come out of Eggman before._

_When she was back in the red room, she looked down at the card. It showed multiple strings of chains, some an old, but strong metal and others almost see-through. They were wrapped around a black arm that clung to them so tightly they practically bit into the skin. Over all of the chains was stamped what she recognized as Eggman's insignia. She scoffed in annoyance and confusion, "What the heck is Eggman up to this time?"_

_A small, scared part of her wondered if it would be worse than what had happened with Chaos and Station Square. Using a literal god of destruction hadn't been enough to take Sonic down. What else was that crazy old doctor willing to do in order to win against the Hero of Mobius?_

_Her jaw set as she looked at the final card on the table. She knew she wasn't going to get too many answers from it- the future was never truly set in stone after all. This time the main character of the cards was not Sonic or her, but Eggman. She was worried about what the future may hold, but she shook her head. Amy still had no idea what Eggman was up to and she knew she couldn't leave here without at least a tiny clue about what he was up to._

_She flipped the card._

_Now she was in a new, dark room. The walls were scrawled with the same crazed red chalk she'd seen earlier that seemed to pulsate with malicious intent. In the center of the room sat a lone black hedgehog, curled into a ball with his hands over his ears._

_"Hey!" she called out as she ran to his side, "Are you okay?"_

_The ball unfurled and was on its feet so quickly Amy gasped in surprise. The hedgehog twisted around to face her and Amy was struck by what she saw._

_There were dark red streaks in his fur that matched the writing on the wall and his wide eyes. A snarl twitched on his lips as his white gloved fists clenched at his sides, ready for a fight. The white puff over his heart heaved with his labored breathing. To anyone else, this creature would be terrifying. Who on earth had naturally red eyes that seemed to permanently glare into your soul? However, Amy's heart broke for him- the hedgehog was barely out of boyhood, almost Sonic's age, chained to the floor of the room by his wrists and ankles._

_"Here," she reached out gently, "Let me help you."_

_The hedgehog's eyes widened in surprise and he seemed to lean forward for a brief moment. But the next second his sneer deepened and he swung his arms out, "Don't touch me. This is where I belong!"_

_Amy looked around incredulously before shooting him her own shocked look, "You... don't look happy being here."_

_"Tch," he scoffed as he folded his arms, "It's not about happiness. It's about what they deserve. What I deserve."_

_Now the walls seeped with a red mist that the boy was starting to choke on and walls rumbled ominously. Still she stared on at the shadowed hedgehog in front of her and all she could think about was how to get them out of there. She reached into her pockets and was amazed and elated to feel her fingers brush against the cold, metal shape of a key. Amy smiled- she knew this was the key to the hedgehog's chains._

_"Nobody belongs in a place like this," she called out in spite of the poison surrounding them, "Come on! Just give me your hand and we can get out of here."_

_The boy growled and lashed out with the chains, "I said NO!"_

_Amy dodged the chains and now she was angry, "Stop being silly! This place is going to kill you!"_

_"You're too weak to stop it!" he growled out, his sneer turning into a soft but cruel smile, "You're pathetic!"_

_Now Amy's cheeks puffed out in rage. She clenched the key in her hands and she lunged for the hedgehog, "I'LL SHOW YOU WEAK!"_

_She was pinned to the ground before she'd reached him. As the hedgehog stood over her, holding her down by her throat and his other arm pressing down on her chest, the room began to collapse around them. The mist surrounded them and was only pierced by the glow of seven bright lights that circled around them ominously. The boy's red markings faded into a shadowy mist and his whole body blurred into a vague black monster that held her down and kept her from breathing. As the world faded around her, Amy saw the final card float in front of her- the earth and moon shattered against the backdrop of space._

_She heard a sad sigh reverberate in her mind..._

* * *

Amy found herself on her back, in her bed, with the shadow creature still trying to choke her.

She groaned lowly in frustration. This creature was not the same boy she was trying to save in her vision but some vague dark monster that would try to "choke" her while she woke from her lucid dreams.

"Ugh," she thought as she began to hold her breath, "Sleep paralysis. My favorite."

Amy held her breath for what felt like forever- even as her body shook with desperation and fear of the monster in front of her, she knew there was only one way to escape the beast. She waited as her body slowly woke from the hell, first with tingling sensations in her toes. It was not a pleasant feeling, it felt like tiny, heated needles poking into the pores of her skin. It slowly gravitated up her legs and when she attempted to move her feet to quicken the process, she found she couldn't move them.

Maybe twenty seconds later she finally felt herself wake up and she shot up from her bed with a gasp. After several harrowing seconds of catching her breath she searched the room for the shadow demon from earlier. Only when she found no signs of it did she rest her head in her hands with a groan. Normally she loved being able to consult her tarot cards, even if it always ended in her being caught in sleep paralysis. They tended to show her premonitions of hope, happiness and adventure!

Tonight though...

Amy shook her head, she knew she wouldn't get another wink of sleep tonight. She turned to the window and saw the soft light of the night just before dawn. Amy heaved a large yawn and got up anyway. She dressed in her signature red dress in the dark of her small windowed tent, bemoaning the loss of her apartment six months earlier. As she picked up a bucket from the corner of her room she dreamed about the running water she used to enjoy. She walked out into the pre-dawn landscape, swinging her bucket despite her conflicted mind and got ready for the day.

She walked out into the cleared ruins of the outskirts of Station Square. As desolate as the area was, she couldn't help but give a small smile. The tents each represented at least one person from Knothole Village who chose to help in rebuilding Station Square. At a glance, Amy counted well over three dozen tents- almost a third of the population of Knothole. Amy scanned the horizon- the work on the city was slow going but it was coming along. The water had been completely drained since about a month after the god, Chaos, had wreaked havoc to the city and the buildings were now mostly safely demolished. Despite the devastation, the Mobians were determined to help rebuild what the human's had lost to be better and stronger than before.

"Not to mention learning more about human building techniques," Amy thought with an eye roll. She'd overheard Sally bring that up at the beginning of the rebuilding project. She couldn't argue with how smart it was, and it had gotten so many more volunteers out. Amy couldn't help but feel a bit leery at the phrasing, however, "It's like people can't just help because they can."

Speaking of helping, as Amy filled her bucket from the well- a mechanical marvel very unlike the traditional wells they'd had to use in the past- she couldn't help but think back to the poor boy she'd tried to save in her dream.

"I wonder what Eggman wants with him," she murmured under her breath, "And why he's okay with it...

"If he was okay with it," she corrected herself, a sad weight clutching her heart, "What was that writing on the wall, anyway. Part of the curse...?"

"Hun?"

"I wonder if those lights were the chaos emeralds," she continued to mutter under breath with a shrug, "Wouldn't surprise me if they were involved, somehow."

"Rosie!"

"There's always got to be some sort of magic when it comes to Eggman," she sighed as she stretched her neck mindlessly, "For a mechanical genius, he sure relies on the supernatural a LOT."

"Amy!"

Amy was pulled out of her reverie and shrieked when she saw her bucket was overflowing and she was wasting so much water. She scrambled to shut the water off and turned apologetically towards the person behind her.

Bunnie Rabbot looked on at Amy with a concerned raised brow over sharp green eyes, one mechanical hand resting on her hip and the other holding her bucket. One mechanical foot tapped methodically against the silence before she pointed to Amy with her good arm. But before she could say anything, Amy gave a little chuckle,

"Hey... Bunnie!" Amy smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, I got a bit distracted."

"Y'all right, there Rosie Cheeks? It's awful early in the morning for you to be up. You sleep alright?"

Amy stood aside to let Bunnie get her water before shaking her hand in a 'so-so' motion, "Could have been better. I... I drew my cards today"

Again, Bunnie raised her brow, "Drew your cards? That a Station Square sayin'?"

Amy shot her a deadpan look, "My tarot cards? The ones I used to find Sonic? The ones that told me to move to Station Square?"

"Right, right. Sorry Rosie-Cheeks, I forgot," Bunnie shut off the water and gave her own sheepish look, "My stahs, I've been runnin' mahself ragged out here. 'Tween helping Sugah 'Twan with the soup kitchen and the main construction site I've been getting pulled in all sorts a ways..."

She giggled but then blanched at her joke, "Don't read too far into that, I shouldn'ta said that..."

Amy rolled her eyes- at twelve years old, she was way too used to hearing the older crowd telling her what she should or shouldn't hear, "Sure... anyway... have you heard anything about where Sonic is? I need to talk to him about what I saw."

Bunnie winced with a small sympathetic hiss, "Ah'm sorry, hun, but Sugah Hog left to go chase a rumor about Doctor Eggman. He left a while ago for Oil Ocean Zone just a few minutes ago..."

Amy's cheeks puffed out and her hands found her hips, "UGH, SERIOUSLY!? He didn't even say goodbye?!"

Bunnie sighed, "Ah'm sure if you called him he'd answer. Or you could talk to Sally..."

Amy's arms crossed and she scoffed, "Please, he never answers his calls. And Sally's been too busy rubbing elbows with the President. Rotor and NICOLE don't believe in my 'mumbo jumbo' and Tails has been loosing it over his stupid project..."

"Now, Amy," Bunnie chided while picking up her bucket and pointing at Amy in a scolding manner, "He helped save the city from Doctor Eggman, too, you know. He deserves a rest..."

"He isn't resting though!" Amy cried, "And I helped save the city too!"

"Of course you did, Rosie-Cheeks. Takin' down that Zero fella really took a lot outta you... but, we're all doing our part," Bunnie chided dismissively, "Look... I get that you had a bad dream..."

"Vision."

"Yea... that," Bunnie took a deep breath, "If it's that important to you I can listen for a bit. I don't need to check into the kitchens for a while..."

Amy stared her down in frustration before she sighed, "Yea... okay... So you know how Tarot readings usually include a past, present, and future card?"

"Can't say I do, but I believe you!"

"Okay... Anyway, the past card had me in space and... I think it was another Death Egg."

Bunnie gasped, "You don't say..."

Amy nodded, "So at first I thought Eggman was hiding in space, but that's in the past. So the present one had me in a jungle and I dropped into a cave with really creepy red writing on the walls and I thought maybe that's where Eggman is hiding."

"Right, okay..."

"But the last card, the future card, didn't have anything to do with Eggman at all!" Amy ranted, "It was a black hedgehog... I think Eggman's going to use him for something really bad..."

"Oh, really? Who was the hedgehog?"

Amy shrugged, "I don't know. I've never seen a hedgehog with red tiger stripes in their quills like that, and the way his quills bent is like I've never seen before... and his eyes... he looked so angry and sad..."

Now Bunnie gave a knowing smile, "Well I'll be, I never thought it'd happen!"

Amy shot her a confused look, "What?"

"I didn't think you'd get over Sonic so quickly, Rosie-Cheeks!"

Amy's eyes widened, "Weren't you listening? This isn't about him!"

Bunnie rolled her eyes, "Sure it isn't. Look, hun, I don't think it's about Eggman. AH think, yer getting a lil crush on someone else and you're feel'n guilty 'bout leaving Sonic behind..."

"But I'm not..."

"And y'all shouldn't!" Bunnie put her bucket down and grabbed Amy by the shoulders gently, "Yer growing up now and that comes with a lot-ah complicated feelings. It's okay ta look a lil closer and see what happens! Don't ya feel bad about chasin' yer happiness Rosie-Cheeks! Yer still so young. Don' be afraid ta go chat up your lil friend when you see him 'round the camp again. I'm sure he'd really like a nice chat with a cute lil lady such as yerself!"

"But I haven't even... I don't have any..." Amy, enraged, stumbled over her words, "You're not even listening to me!"

"Aw, Ah'm sorry I couldn't help you more sweetheart," Bunnie said glumly before gasping, "Oh, I gotta go! Sugah 'Twan's waitin' on me and I still haven't gotten myself presentable yet!"

Amy huffed and sputtered as Bunnie waved goodbye and called out, "Go talk to Sally-girl if you need more help! She'll help y'all with your new boyfriend!."

Amy shook with frustration and her cheeks burned red-hot. She gave a growling shriek and kicked her bucket of water over. Too late, she realized she would have to wait in a now much longer line for water to brush her teeth and wash her hands. As she grumbled under her breath over not being taken seriously, again, she resigned herself to a long drive to Central City and a meeting with one Princess Sally Acorn.

* * *

**White House-Central City, United Federation**

**10:16**

Amy's mood had not gotten any better after her journey to Central City. Not that she was surprised, she'd had to walk the entire way to the other city because the buses to the other cities wouldn't let her on without permission from her mommy.

Amy growled in her seat in the waiting room of the White House, practically grinding her teeth down to the root. While she'd only been there a grand total of ten minutes, each moment seemed to tick by at a snail's pace and she was left consumed in such an angry aura that no one wanted to be anywhere near her.

"I swear, if Sally keeps me waiting just one second more, this whole house is going to be nothing but rubble when I'm done with it!"

"Miss?"

Amy's eyes shot the older human man, who dared to interrupt her incensed thoughts, with such a withering look she made the rest of his group flinch in fear. She was both angered and relieved to see the older gentleman was entirely unphased by this and even seemed mildly amused by her pouting.

Amy took a deep breath to reign in her temper, but her voice still came out curtly, "Yea, what do you want?"

The man raised one brow and replied, "I was hoping to ask you the same question. Are you lost?"

Amy's pout deepened but rather than give into her rising rage, she smoothed out her dress and held her nose up at him with an air of importance, "I'm waiting to see Princess Sally Acorn. I have important information about Dr. Eggman's whereabouts that I need to share with her."

Amy raised her eyes smugly to him, only to see that man's eyes widen only ever so slightly. She was even more infuriated when he folded his hands behind his back and leveled her with a condescending look, "Oh? That's odd. We've just gotten very reliable intel on his location. I imagine you've done your own well-founded research to come to your conclusions?"

Amy's cheeks puffed out. To be honest, she didn't have a reliable source and all she really had to go on was a jungle...

But her heart never steered her wrong- she knew she had to talk to Sally as soon as she could, "Call it a woman's intuition. I need to talk to her. Tell her it's Amy Rose."

His brows crinkled slightly and Amy was struck by the man's eyes. She'd never seen eyes that were different colors- one green, one brown. Something stirred in her heart and told her to be kinder to him. She took in his clothes- a deep green, almost black military jacket with matching slacks and the shiniest black shoes Amy had ever seen. Two stripes over his left breast pocket and the numerous medals put him high in the chain of command, although Amy had no clue where exactly. He was conspicuously missing a name tag on his uniform- a bit annoying but then she could always ask.

Finally the man offered a kind smile, "I recognize you now- you were with the princess upon her arrival a few months ago. I'm on my way to a meeting with her and the President. I'm sure we can spare a few moments for you two to... have a little _chat_ before our meeting..."

If looks could kill, the old man would have keeled over from the terrifying glare she shot his way. He had turned and began to walk away by the time she took a few deep breaths and began to follow him. Slowly but surely, she soothed her irritation as they briskly strolled through the winding corridors of the mansion. Through it all, a persistent feeling thumped in her chest- a sort of deja vu that refused to let her go. Finally she turned to the old man, "I'm... sorry, I never got your name."

"Lieutenant Commander Towers," The man said with a restrained smile, "I'm with the G.U.N."

"...The...?"

"The Guardian Unit of Nations," he answered, "We oversee the defense of the United Federation against her enemies."

Amy frowned in confusion- the feeling of deja vu was just getting stronger, "...Did you... fight in the Great War at all? I feel like I know you from somewhere..."

The man stopped in his tracks and eyed her with concern, "Did you?"

Amy shook her head, "I was only three when Eggman took over. My parents did. Sorry, I thought I'd maybe seen you or your name in one of the old history books. It's starting to bug me, actually."

The man sized her up and Amy couldn't help but straighten her back and face him head on. For all that he'd made a poor impression, Amy still wanted to measure up. Finally, he offered a sad smile and a nod, "We're almost there, right this way."

He moved, and Amy was immediately gripped by tunnel vision. Her eyes honed in on a map of what she presumed to be the entirety of the United Federation from the Western shores of Soleanna to the Eastern most tip of Chun-An up to Holoska and down all the way to the most Southern edge of Mazuri. Amy scrambled to get a closer look at the map and zone in immediately on a tiny spot of an island almost 100 miles off the coast of the Mystic Ruins. Amy was just taking in the latitude and longitude of the island when the man came up ever so silently behind her, "Ms. Rose? Something the matter?"

Amy pointed to the island immediately, "Does this island have a jungle on it?"

The man frowned in confusion before deciding to humor her. His face quickly hardened then smoothed over when he had a moment to realize what island she was talking about. Despite his brief unrest, his voice was smooth and seemingly unconcerned, "I couldn't say- I've never been."

Amy huffed then gave a small determined grin, "It's off the coast of the Mystic Ruins... it has to."

The man shrugged, "I believe you. Now, if you'll follow me, I believe you have important information to share?"

Amy pouted and folded her arms over her chest, "Yea, yea, I'm coming, Abe..."

Now the man froze completely and halted Amy with a look that was both highly suspicious and entirely ill at ease, "What did you just call me?"

Before Amy could answer, someone called from around the corner, "Lieutenant Commander! There you are!"

They both turned to see a broad, stout man with an impressive beard in a similar military outfit to Towers. He clapped the tall, lanky Towers on the back and started to guide him away, "Abraham, you won't believe the progress the young princess has made in her little country, and so close to enemy lines! My dear, Knothole village has been in very impressive hands!"

"Thank you, Commander Thunderstrike," Amy heard the smooth, but very tired tones of Sally's voice and her heart lifted in relief, "That is very high praise coming from..."

She turned the corner and her eyes widened in surprise, "Amy! What are you doing here?"

If Amy had been the type to look before she leapt, she would have seen Sally was in no position to entertain any surprises. The princess looked tired, her hair, while not technically out of place, was drooping. It was clear to almost everyone that Sally had been in the middle of meetings with barely a chance to change clothes before the next stage of plans. All for the sake of having a mutually beneficial relationship with the humans that the mobians hadn't seen in literal centuries. It was clear that such lofty goals bore a heavy price. As determined as Princess Sally was, she was at the edge of her good graces.

It was a shame Amy caught none of this. She pointed immediately to the map, "I know where Eggman's hiding!"

Sally frowned in confusion while Amy lunged towards her and grabbed Sally's hand. The Commander and Towers looked on as Amy dragged Sally to the map.

"Oh? Do you, young lady?" Now the Commander turned his amused gaze to Sally, "Another savant in your entourage? Wonders never cease with you young critters, isn't that right Towers?"

Towers only gave an uneasy nod as Amy pointed to the island she'd been so fixated on moments before.

"There! Right there! He's on that island!"

There was a pause just before Sally gently massaged her temples and the Commander began to roar with laughter, "Oh, there's a good one. Trust me, my dear, no one is on that island."

"I know Eggman is!" Amy retorted, "Or at the very least he plans on being there soon!"

Towers' frowned down his nose at her, "And your sources?"

"None," Sally groaned, "Amy, please. We don't have time for this. We're in the middle of planning something. Go back to Station Square. We have everything under control here."

"Sally, please, you have to believe me! Something is going on on that island and we have to send Sonic there to check it out!"

"No, we don't," Sally countered, "We know where Eggman is and he's not on some desert island-"

"Jungle island."

"-WHATEVER island in the middle of nowhere!"

"Then let me go and check it out!" Amy begged, "Please, I know I can handle it, and I can at least see what's going on!"

"Absolutely not!" The Commander thundered, "Your Highness, I can allow some modicum of freedom within the country but..."

The Commander began to stumble over his words as he realized he couldn't very well explain how he knew Eggman wasn't there in the first place. In answer to his prayers, Towers took a step forward and offered, "This is within our sphere of influence and if Ms. Rose's information is even remotely legitimate, it's worth at least a cursory investigation. Allow us to look into this on our own while we work together on our separate venture to bring Dr. Eggman to justice."

Sally sighed, "Thank you, Lieutenant Commander. I appreciate your diligence and kindness in this matter. I suggest we consider this _settled_."

She shot Amy a look that made the pink hedgehog's blood run hot with embarrassment, "You don't believe me, do you?"

Now Sally's eyes flashed with anger and she grabbed Amy's arm roughly in turn.

"Excuse us for a moment gentleman, I'll return for the second meeting shortly," the princess said hurriedly as she dragged Amy around the corner into a room.

The room was filled with a series of maps and blueprints on it. The room had only two others in it, another tall man that Amy recognized as the President of the United Federation, and a white bat, with bright teal eyes that looked on in the barest hint of interest. Sally let go of Amy just long enough to grab a small pile of papers and slam them in front of her. Amy looked down, her heart frozen in shock as Sally revealed the pictures of a clearly reactivated Eggman base in the middle of Oil Ocean zone near Shamar. As Amy's hands gently hovered over the pictures, at one point even hovering over one of Eggman himself, Sally spoke to her in low but harsh tones.

"I understand that you want to be a Freedom Fighter. I admit we've given Tails a lot more leniency and responsibility that we've given you. And I promise once this is over we will be taking your training much more seriously than we have in the past-"

"I don't need training, I need you to listen to me!" Amy growled, "There's a boy who needs our help! A black hedgehog with red eyes!"

Sally continued unimpeded, "You're being incredibly childish and nearsighted if you really think you're the only one doing anything about all of this."

"Eggman has to be tricking you! Just let me go with them to the island and I can..."

Sally's fist clenched and she barely stopped herself from slamming it on the table. She took several deep breaths behind clasped hands before she tried again, "I believe you have visions. I believe you have insight into things that we don't. But this is hard evidence that anyone can see while yours are just vague apparitions that we can't analyze the way we can with these. There are only so many resources we can spare and frankly- I can't focus on some unknown black hedgehog, and Eggman, and rebuilding at the same time. So please… just..."

Now Sally drew close and her voice was now a harsh whisper, "Go back to Station Square. Stop throwing a tantrum and help where you're needed."

Amy stared into the cold, hard blue eyes of the princess, and she felt tears begin to burn at the corners of her eyes as she realized that once again Sally insisted on treating her like a small child. Sally put her hand on Amy's back and opened the door to the room, and with a gentle push, ushered the young girl from the room. Mortified, she saw the commanders had been right behind them, faces pale but unmoving. Amy only started down the hall when the door was closed softly behind her and she was left alone and with a pounding sense of anger and determination.

Back inside the room, Sally took several more deep breaths before she addressed the President directly, "Forgive me, sir. That was one of our trainees. She's... very excited to officially join our ranks."

As the President waved off her apologies, Sally failed to notice the stoic, almost fearful silence between the two commanders of the G.U.N and the bright, interested look of the President's mobian guest.

* * *

**Mystic Ruins-Tails' workshop**

**15:22**

Tails was in the middle of the most peaceful sleep of his life. For days before this, he'd stayed up late into the wee hours of the night- tinkering with the chaos emerald he'd been awarded for his part in saving Station Square. It was all worth it. If everything went as planned, the days of Eggman getting the jump on them or someone using the chaos emeralds for their own nefarious purposes would be a thing for the history books. He dreamed of being awarded the World Genius prize, the parades in his honor, and best of all- the thumbs up and hair ruffles he'd get from Sonic. He could practically hear the magic words come out of his mouth, "I'm proud of you, buddy!"

Just as he was about to get the key to the world and a solution to grow four, no, FIVE inches taller- he heard a frantic pounding at the door of his house. He gave a loud shriek as he was pulled from slumber and jumped from his bed. He fell, in a tangle of blankets and tails, to the floor below him. His eyes were so heavy, he could barely keep them open as he wrestled with the fabric prison that kept him from shutting the incessant pounding up. He groaned pitifully as he stumbled his way through his house and towards the door. He opened the door and was immediately blinded by the light of the summer afternoon. Tails adjusted his eyes and found, not Sonic, or a key to the world, or even a tiny emergency. To his dismay, he only found one Amy Rose at his doorstep with a wicked smile on her face and a full backpack behind her.

"Hey, Taaails... whatcha doin'?" She said in a cloying sing-song voice.

Tails glared at her pathetically before rubbing his eyes, "What'dyou wan'?" he whined.

"I need a faaavor~"

"I'm not driving you anywhere and I don't know where Sonic is," Tails quickly ground out while rubbing his poor blood-shot eyes, "Tools are over there, take whatever you want, just let me sleep and don't break anything."

Amy frowned, "You sure? I need to..."

"Please... Amy," he shot her a look that was practically in tears, he was so exhausted, "I... need to sleep. I don't even care if it's the Tornado. Just bring it back when you're done and let me sleep..."

As Tails stumbled into the wall a few times, Amy gently took him by the shoulders and guided him back to his room. Tails whined under his breath but allowed her to tuck him in and tousle his hair gently, "Sleep tight, Tails. And thanks for your help!"

Tails yawned and grumbled something under his breath before snuggling into his pillow with a smile. He was snoring by the time Amy marched back through his kitchen and into the basement area that led to his garage. She turned on the lights and was amazed by the absolute armory this kid had in his hangar. The walls cut deep into the cliff side, using the natural formation of the cliff to provide protection against the elements. Cables and rebar laced the walls from the ceiling all the way down to the water and they were lined with tables laden with gadgets, and experiments. The water, at high tide at that moment, was snaked purposefully around the machines like a moat. When she looked up to the ceiling, she saw the outlines of trapdoors that would open and lead up to the runway just outside his house. She ooh'd and aww'd over the planes for a moment before she stopped and frowned.

"These are great... but I don't know how to fly." She grumbled a little bitterly. She hadn't asked for flight training, but then Tails' hadn't either, if she remembered correctly. The empty promises of the princess, the Freedom Fighters, and even Sonic to teach her the basics mocked her at the edges of her mind.

"Why does Tails get to learn all the cool stuff? He gets to go on missions, be involved in planning… but I'm the one too young for that?" She thought, a little jealousy bubbling to the surface.

Amy shook out those miserable thoughts. Now wasn't the time to wallow in self pity or petty jealousy. She had a mission to complete. Someone had to look out for that haunted boy from her vision, and if everyone refused to help, she'd do it herself.

"Just like Birdy, and his family," she decided with a resigned nod.

She huffed in frustration but eyed the ATVs and the two cars Tails built and her frown deepened, "Those won't work..."

Her eyes feel on a three half-built boards on display over his workstation that sent her foot tapping in frustration, "I could boogie board my way there, I guess, but once I get to the island I'll be too tired to spy on Eggman!"

She pursed her lips and looked around the garage some more before she leaned against one of the cars. To her horror, the car actually started to slide. Before she could stop it, she had fallen over and the car had slipped and crashed into the moat of water around its display. She scrambled to try and get the thing back out of the water. As she pulled it back she realized that rather than sinking, the large car had started to float?

Upon closer inspection, she realized the car had a point in the front with a white bottom and bright golden yellow stripes on its sides. The seats were shaped like regular seats in a car, but the bottoms were now exposed so they could swivel and the floor was replaced with a hard wood deck. The clear black writing on the side declared this vessel to be dubbed, "The ROS Tsunami MKII". There was a lot of room to move about the cabin turned deck and Amy's smile grew brighter. She clapped and squealed with glee as she threw her bag inside and climbed aboard.

"I can't fly. But I can drive!" she crowed, "A boat can't be much different than a car! How bad could it be?"

She looked over the console and studied the buttons before her eyes fell on something that made her gasp, "A chaos emerald?"

And there it was, in all its golden yellow glory, sitting in the center console under a glass display dome that secured it into the boat. She smiled at this, "Great! No need to worry about running out of fuel! Now... where's the... AH HA!"

Amy found the button that displayed the map and fumbled through putting in the coordinates that she remembered from the map. She gave a victorious whoop as the engine roared to life and jerked towards the exit of the workshop. Her whoop turned to shrieks of fear as she barreled headlong towards a wall of rock. Just before she hit the solid wall she lunged towards the bow and summoned her hammer. She swung against the wall with all her might, opening a gaping gash that led out to the ocean. The boat sped out over the waves, leaving Amy to melt in a relieved puddle on the bow. She crawled back gingerly towards the captain's chair and practically slid into it. She wiped her brow and watched the console as it revealed the map to her destination.

"Okay... just a slight bump in the road," she murmured warily, "I can fix that when I get back. Tails never has to know. I can take some pictures, prove that Eggman is on the island, figure out what that capsule thing is and maybe find that boy stuck in the curse room! Easy as pie..."

Little did she know that pie is just... an absolute bitch and a half to make.


	2. Where I'm Needed Most

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amy finds her way to the island and realizes she's bitten off more than she can chew. She's determined to prove herself, however, and refuses to give up. Sally and the Freedom Fighters realize Amy is missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once Again- special thanks to Nothin' Fancy for Beta reading for me. Couldn't do it without you!

**Where I'm Needed Most**

**Prison Island Command Center**

**19:24**

Captain Amanda Towers looked over the boundless expanse of the jungle before her. To the east of the watchtower she could see the ocean stretching out towards the horizon. Reds and oranges bled into the blue, and wisps of ivory clouds were dusted with pinks and purples. It was a beautiful, peaceful sunset.

And she had no idea why her father was so up her ass about a possible invasion.

Upon asking what she could expect, he had not given any answer. Just to be ready for anything from a lone man operation to a full scale assault from the Mad Doctor himself. In return, he promised as much man power as he could quietly provide. In particular, he wanted her to give special attention to the northern side of the island. She squinted her tired green eyes but couldn't see much of anything. Not that she expected much, her father had been uncharacteristically cryptic in his sources. She nursed her coffee before taking a tentative sip, readying herself for the night shift. For all that he was worried, she knew the prison was well maintained and empty of any problem prisoner. Once it was a prison housing the most dangerous of criminals, but now she could count on one hand all the humans here that weren't in her employ. It had become Now it was more of a Treasure Island; a place for the United Federation to house and protect its most precious possessions.

"And its most dangerous," she thought smugly of the new droids they'd created to directly fight against Eggman's forces, "Let him try..."

As if in answer, one of the other soldiers called out to her, "Captain! We have an unauthorized vessel approaching the island."

Amanda frowned, "How many, Lieutenant Adebayo?"

The Mazurian Lieutenant squinted against the screen to double check before hesitantly replying, "Just... one, Captain. It's a tiny thing- maybe a speed boat. About 25 klicks North east of us."

One of the petty officers snorted, "Probably some wingnut on vacation got lost."

The Captain frowned and glared down the officer before barking, "Hail the vessel. Tell them to get lost somewhere else."

The petty officer gulped and complied immediately.

* * *

Amy woke from her nap to the incomprehensible garbling of the radio. As the static and odd words began to irk her, she opened her eyes to see the jungle island on the horizon, quickly closing in. She was even more smugly pleased to see that there was indeed a metal harbor installed towards the southern side of the island.

"I knew someone was here!" she squealed with glee as she grabbed her camera from her bag, "And I'd bet my last ring that that's another Eggman base! Wait til Sally gets a load of this!"

Still, her ears twitched at the sound of the odd noises from the radio getting louder and more desperate. She took two quick pictures before she finally got sick of the sound and stomped over to the radio. Her ire grew when she realized that Tails had not labeled any of the buttons and therefore she had no idea how to shut it up. She quickly started button mashing before the radio cut out entirely. She sighed in relief until she realized the engine was shutting down and the console was folding out to reveal a countdown and a steering wheel.

"Oh!" she thought pleasantly surprised, "Well, I guess I'm taking over! One minute to shore, huh? Let's do it!"

It didn't take her long to figure out the throttle, and the steering was actually pretty easy to master. She gave a satisfied stretch as she searched the shore for a decent place to hide the boat as close to the harbor as she could without being seen...

* * *

**_"Prepare for imminent destruction. T-minus 1 minute. 59. 58.-"_ **

The overlook had erupted into a hive of urgency.

"How long until the vessel makes landfall?"

"It's in tandem with the countdown. The target's at 20 klicks now and approaching!"

"Where is it heading?"

"Towards Dock 10!"

"Evacuate the Dock and deploy the droids! Aim the cannons and search for any follow up attacks nearby."

"There are no other vessels, it's just this speed boat!"

"Then shoot it out of the water. Do NOT let that thing make landfall."

"The cannons are locked and loaded, Captain!"

"Then **fire,** dammit!"

* * *

Amy's heart stopped as she saw incoming missiles approaching from the shoreline. She screeched as she swerved out of the way. The barrage just behind her and sent a wave that nearly capsized her. When she thankfully breached the wave, she grit her teeth and turned the boat towards the jungle side of the island and began weaving between the waves.

"New plan, wait out the heat and get to Eggman's base through the jungle!" she cried over the explosions, salt water splashing into her eyes and mouth. In spite of the danger, a smug smile spread across her face. This just had to be Eggman launching an attack on her, which meant he was definitely here. She struggled to steer with one hand as she tried to take pictures of the attack with her camera in the other.

Amy pushed the gas to full throttle and sped towards the shore. She growled, eyes growing wide and terrified as the barrage of bullets and missiles only got worse as she got closer to shore. She looked down at the counter- less than twenty seconds before landfall. Just a bit more if she could just...

Too late- a missile exploded behind her and this time the wave not only flipped the boat but the shock wave knocked her head-first into the console and her whole world went black.

* * *

**Station Square Volunteer Center**

**22:01**

Sally Acorn looked down at NICOLE's display, where Sonic stared up at her with an annoyed look on his face, "So Eggman wasn't at the base?" she asked morosely.

"He was- but he ran for it when I got here," Sonic rolled his eyes, "And he's definitely up to something. I don't know what it is but he's got these plans for a... new set of legs? I dunno if it's for real though- looks really small compared to what he's thrown at me in the past."

Rotor peeped over Sally's shoulder, "Send those along to me. Once Tails wakes up, he and I will figure out what's so special about it and see if we can't find a way to counteract it."

Sonic gave them a thumb's up, "Don't sweat it too much. I'll find a way to take that thing down before you can say..."

"Chili Dogs," the whole room rang out along with Sonic. Sally smiled wistfully while the room, including Sonic laughed along.

"See? We'll be fine! Smell you all later!"

Sally's eyes widened and she called out to Sonic as the crowd around her dissipated, "Wait! Before you go..."

Sonic raised an eyebrow, "Yea? What's up, Sal?"

Her eyes fell and she took a deep breath. It was a long shot, but she had to ask, "Have you seen Amy?"

Sonic's head pulled back in confusion, "Uh... no. Did you send her along?"

Sally shook her head, "I didn't. But, she had another vision and..."

Rotor and Sonic both gave audible groans and she could feel NICOLE judging her from her console. She held up her hands defensively but continued evenly, "I know you all don't think it's real, but... you have to admit her intuition is just too uncanny for there not to be some merit to it."

"It's called a cold read," Rotor argued, "And just because she's good at it doesn't mean she's reliable with it. Better to call a spade a spade and train her up to see facts not fairy tales."

Antoine shivered, however, "You can say zat... after what exploded ze entire city of Station Square?"

Rotor stopped but shrugged, "Apples and oranges. Just because one is true doesn't mean the other is."

"What'd she do?" Sonic asked finally.

Sally sighed, "Nothing... I don't think. She came to see me this morning and was trying to tell me Eggman was on an island off the coast of the Mystic Ruins. I... was a bit harsh with her. I haven't seen her since this morning and I'm worried about her."

Sonic looked slightly concerned but Bunnie came up to Sally and placed a friendly hand on her shoulder, "Now, don't you worry yourself too much Sally-girl. I'll bet she's just hangin' out with her new beau right about now!"

The whole room fell silent and everyone stared openly at Bunnie as though she'd just grown two heads. Sonic, especially started to scoff-laugh before asking, "Beau? As in boyfriend? She has a boyfriend now?"

Bunnie gave him a harsh look, "That's right, Sugah-hog, you waited too long and now she's with her Mister Tall, Dark and Handsome hog. She was tellin' me about him this morning- a black hedgehog she was dreamin' about. Ah'm just happy she took mah advice."

Sally's incredulous smile suddenly fell just as hard as her heart did, "...Did you just say 'black hedgehog'?"

Bunnie sized Sally up with her own confused look, "Yea...with red eyes. Y'all got a problem with that?"

"No, no, no- Amy told me he was in trouble, not that she was infatuated with him!"

"Same difference?" Sonic snorted.

Sally shot him a withering glare that had Sonic's hands up defensively, "Hey! Don't look at me like that- I've been dealing with her crushing on me for years now. It's about time she moved on!"

"None of you get it!" Sally cried out, "Amy thinks Eggman is going to use this hedgehog and it has something to do with that jungle island I told you about earlier."

Sonic shrugged, "So let me go get her! I'm a ways away but I can be at the island in two shakes before she gets herself into trouble..."

Sally shook her head, "We can't. When she continued to insist Eggman's plans would involve the island somehow the G.U.N. were very clear about them investigating it on their own. It's clearly some sort of secret outpost. If we set foot out there it will be a political nightmare."

Is this the section that you were worried about? Or is it later?

Her mind raced with all the possible ways to fix this when Rotor raised his hand hesitantly, "Yea... I think we're forgetting something pretty important. That island's in the middle of the ocean. It looks close on the map but it's pretty far away from shore. Amy's strong, but she can't swim out in the open ocean. She'd need a way to get there and she's no pilot."

Antoine and Bunnie gave a sigh of relief. Sally even chuckled a bit before she smiled, "You're right. You're right. I'm worrying about nothing. I'm sure she's just off in the city trying to figure out a way to swim it."

But she saw Sonic looking around the room skeptically before he said, "I hate to be the party-pooper but... where's Tails?"

The room froze, save for Antoine who answered, "Ze boy is sleeping. He 'azs been hard at work on a project in ze Mystic Ruins. He finally finished!"

He laughed and only when he was done did he realize the entire aura of the room had shifted to brick shitting mode.

"She wouldn't," Bunnie murmured, "She... she's only twelve years old. She can't even drive... can she?"

* * *

**One Train Ride Later**

**22:41**

Tails eyes fluttered open ever so gently. He ached everywhere and he was a bit on the warm side, but he felt way better than he had before. He looked at the clock and hissed, "Oops! There goes my sleep schedule!"

Not that he cared. He was extremely independent for an eight year old and with the project he'd just finished testing, it would be impossible for anyone to see him as anything less than a full fledged adult. He stretched out and slipped out of bed. He took a moment to contemplate what he could do now so late in the evening. He'd already finished one project, and his Revenge on Sonic Tsunami had most of the bugs ironed out finally. He considered adding one more joke to it, but then figured it was already overkill having a menacing countdown and an invisibility armor around it. He chuckled at the thought of taking that thing out to open water, "That'll show Sonic for hiding that thunder recorder in my lab!"

He was making his way towards the kitchen when he heard a pounding on his door. He rolled his eyes but strolled to the door with a small pep in his step. His whole demeanor changed when he saw the Freedom Fighters at the door with him.

"Tails, sweety, where's Amy?" Sally asked immediately, a strained smile pulling on the edge of her lips.

"Hey... guys...?" Tails asked hesitantly, "I... don't know? She came by earlier. She was looking for Sonic and..."

Suddenly Tails blanched and he scrambled back into his house. Sally and the gang took one look at each other before they ran after him. They were halfway down the stairs to his hangar when they heard a cry erupt from the bottom. As they all tumbled down the stairs they saw Tails with his mouth open over the gaping hole in his wall.

"My... my Tsunami!" he cried, his hands lacing through the fur on his head and over his ears, "My wall! My project! MY CHAOS EMERALD! THEY'RE GONE!"

Sally felt herself going faint. Amy Rose now had a ride _and_ a chaos emerald, "Tails... please, how long ago did you see her?"

Tails ran towards the left wall of the lab, where a huge computer was set up, "I dunno… hours ago at least, but I can track the location."

Sally's heart sank further but she squared her shoulders and marched towards the computer to see what Tails was doing. He'd set the time at 13:00- to be safe. As they followed the trajectory of the boat, her heart sank further still as it ran ever closer to the little island that Amy had insisted on investigating. Her heart hit rock bottom when she saw the little dot on the map completely disappear at about 18:00 hours just off the northeast coast of the island.

Sally's hands found their way to her mouth and she slid down to her knees. She felt Bunnie's hands on her shoulders immediately while she heard Antoine scoff, "I just... I don't... What does zat mean?"

Tails eyes were down cast and Rotor had pulled his hat off. It was Tails who answered, "It means either the cloaking device got activated or the boat was..."

Sally could feel her shoulders shaking with sobs now. Not only was Amy possibly dead- but she'd been killed in an active raid against a military outpost of an ally outside of wartime. Meaning, unless Sally was willing to drag Amy's name through the mud, Amy's death could very well be an open declaration of war with the humans. It could lead to the Great War all over again.

* * *

**Northeast quadrant of Prison Island**

**20:15**

As Amy hid in the mud of a foreign jungle, away from Eggman's robots, in the dark- she took a moment to reacquaint herself with her ever-so delightfully unfair situation.

1\. The Tsunami had been beached and flipped upside down into car mode and was basically undriveable at the moment.

2\. She was not expecting anyone to help her out of this mess because she'd managed to get here without telling anyone where she was.

3\. The Tsunami was now invisible for some reason... and she'd fumbled around the invisible deck until finally managing to fall overboard onto the sand. She would figure out how to fix it later, for now it was kind of a blessing. What better to hide a boat? Frankly she could figure out how to fix that later because...

4\. Eggman's robots had almost immediately found her after she'd just barely recovered from being knocked unconscious and nearly drowned to death and were now trying to gun her down instead.

5\. She now had a chaos emerald with her and knowing Eggman that meant having a homing beacon on her at all times.

Amy shivered against the mud- she'd run head-long into the jungle without any thought to where she should be going for more than half an hour straight and those robots were still hot on her tail. Not to mention she was tired, cold, hungry, and lost. She reminisced loathsomely to the time she'd been in Maginary world with Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails. She thought her dress was ruined then? She was practically unrecognizable now and she was positive she was going to catch something gross when she got out of this.

The robots hovered ominously near her and she trembled further into the dirt soup, "If I get out of here," she thought miserably.

She shook her head then gasped in pain- she was sure she had a concussion at this point. But she grit her teeth and thought, "Then it's up to me! I gotta figure out where Eggman is, what he's planning and get off this crazy island!"

She military-crawled quietly away. After she stopped hearing any noises she got to her feet shakily and took one step forward.

Only to start plummeting through the ground and through a rusted metal wall. She felt the metal slice through her left arm as she screamed her way down another several dozen feet. She reached out desperately for a way to stop her fall, only to grab a metal cord that held her for a brief moment before snapping and letting her fall the rest of the way down to an unforgiving metal floor below her. She heard rather than felt the sickening crack of her left arm breaking. The wind knocked out of her lungs, she went entirely numb and her mind went still for what felt like hours. Only when she tried to move did a pain like a wildfire blossom from her arm. She tried to suppress a scream, knowing that she was still in danger and any sound could bring a hoard of bots to her location. She whimpered in pain against the cold, wet, muddy floor before she dared to open her eyes to see where she'd ended up.

The world seemed to freeze when she recognized the room she was in.

Clear as day, there was the console attached to a misty capsule from her vision. Amy clambered to her feet, wincing as she jostled her arm. She gingerly held it in place as she limped her way to the console. Unlike her vision, the keys were entirely dusted over and it looked like no one had been here in years. She looked warily around the room and breathed a sigh of relief when she found no red chalk curses on the walls.

"There's that at least..." she murmured to herself as she looked down at the capsule below. It was a ways down but if she squinted she could clearly see...

She gasped and her ears buzzed with adrenaline. She rushed towards the console and tried to turn it on.

She had to save the black hedgehog resting in the capsule.

When the machine refused to turn on she practically screeched in fury. The thing was dead and she had no clue how the hell she was going to get it working again. She nearly bashed the thing to smithereens until she tried to swing her hammer and couldn't without jostling her bad arm. As she pushed back the tears of pain and frustration she took several deep breaths and forced herself to think of something else.

That's when she saw the gem shaped indent on the keyboard- just like the one in Tails' boat. "No way…" She thought, her pain suddenly numbing with her realization.

Amy quickly pulled out the chaos emerald and shoved it into the indent. To her bewilderment, it turned on almost immediately. She was relieved to see that the user data was already entered for her.

"Gerald R. Gerald, huh?" she thought as she entered the password from her vision, "So that's Eggman's real name! Sorry, Doctor, I don't like you stealing little boys for your weird experiments!"

The computer flashed in assent and Amy was thrilled when it asked her if she wanted to unlock the capsule and immediately pressed yes. Amy cried out in fear as there was a great grinding of gears and a hiss came loudly from below her. She limped closer to the edge and watched as the capsule slowly rose up to her level. She shivered from the cold and anticipation as the capsule slid open with a screech. First one hand appeared, then another, before the mist revealed the boy from her visions rising slowly out of his confines to stand stoically before her.

Amy was immediately struck by his crimson red eyes. While her visions were normally very accurate, the sheer intensity of his stare was enough to leave Amy breathless. His unwavering gaze was unreadable and it left Amy curious about the boy she'd just released. Those eyes searched hers and she couldn't help but wonder if he was judging her and if she was measuring up.

Her next thought was a smug one- she was right!

"Hey there!" she called out gently gasping, "Oh wait! Stay right there! I'll find a way to get you acr-"

She stopped in her tracks as the boy jumped across the small chasm directly in front of her. She stumbled backwards and would have tripped if he hadn't caught her from behind to steady her. She cried out in pain- it would have been so sweet if she hadn't just slammed her bad arm against him.

She could feel herself growing faint from the pain. He seemed to see it too as he eased her gently to the ground and gingerly touched her arm.

"What have we here?"

Amy chuckled- he even sounded just like he had in her vision, "I uh... fell down from there and broke it."

She pointed up to the hole in the ceiling before cringing in pain, "But don't worry about me. How are you feeling? How long have you been trapped down here?"

He raised his brow, looked towards the hole, then allowed his eyes to fall slowly down to follow her fall. When Amy did the same she was shocked she hadn't died from that one. The hedgehog seemed to be mildly impressed before asking, "Long enough. What year is it?"

Amy's eyes widened, "Uh... today is day 159, 3237?"

His eyes shifted back and forth before he gave a wry chuckle, "Then it seems I've been here for about 50 years."

"50 years!?" Amy cried, "But that... that's impossible! Eggman's old but he's not that old!"

The black hedgehog shook his head, "I don't know who this Eggman is, but he's not the one who kept me here."

Amy's heart stopped, "But... if Eggman's not the one... who was shooting at me earlier?"

An alarm went off around them that made them both flinch. The doors behind them rumbled open and a large mech and a dozen smaller droids swarmed in around them. Amy felt the wind knocked out of her when she saw in bold black letters just who she had invaded.

"This is G.U.N territory!" the giant mech called out, "You are under arrest for trespassing, espionage, and jail-breaking. Come quietly or we will shoot!"

Amy felt the blood drain from her face, "J...jail-breaking?"

She looked up to the black hedgehog who only glared down the soldier, eyes shifting from droid to droid. Her heart broke. Here she was, stuck in front of a shooting squad with a convict she'd just broken out of prison.

"Why is this hedgehog even here!? He's just a kid...

"Just like Sonic," she decided, "Just like all of us."

Now she was angry. She stood up and roared, "NO!"

She stood tall and ignored the searing pain of her arm as she summoned her hammer in her right hand. She pointed it forward and cried, "What did he do? What did he do that made you put him to sleep for 50 years!?"

"Surrender or prepare to..."

"NO! WHAT DID HE DO!?" she demanded, "If you want to fight, then I'll fight but I'm NOT backing down until you tell me why he deserved to be chained up and locked away!"

"This is Scorpion Troop's Hot Shot!" the soldier barked out defiantly, "We've engaged the enemy! OPEN FIRE!"

Amy's heart pounded with fear, pain, and fury. She charged towards the first droid without a second thought, even as her left arm beat painfully and uselessly against her side. She was about to slam her hammer into the droid when she felt something powerful wrap around her waist and pull her back. Suddenly she was heaved back out of the way of dozens of bullets and lasers that ripped her would-be victim to shreds. Amy was hauled back towards the capsule and into the pit where the capsule had been. She turned in a rage where the boy had simply put up a hand to stop her, "Stay here."

Amy reached out with her good hand but not quickly enough to stop him from jumping off with the help of his rocket shoes. She stared in confusion at the spot he'd just been in, "How... long has he had those on?"

Her mind pivoted to a new worry, however, as she heard the battle raging overhead. She was alone, injured, and all she had between her and destruction was a stranger and the pit she was now stuck in. She had no idea if he was combat ready until she heard the noises above. It felt like an eternity of grinding metal and the whoosh of her protector jumping from droid to droid. It was maybe two minutes before she heard the more tell-tale screech of a huge hunk of metal being twisted into uselessness. She heard glass shattering and the terrified shriek from the pilot in the cockpit.

Then she heard silence- it was menacing, and thick with tension. Her ears twitched as she heard the hedgehog's steps towards the console. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw him safe and sound. Her heart stopped when he pulled the chaos emerald from the console and turned back away from her.

"Behold, the true power I possess!"

Amy's eyes widened, realizing what he was about to do, "Wait wait, NO DON'T DO IT! SHADOW, STOP! I'M BEGGING YOU!"

The silence was deafening. Her heart pounded in her ears as she waited for the dreadful sounds of a fleshy kill. She shook uncontrollably and tears started pouring down her eyes. She didn't want to hear it, but the not knowing was even more agonizing.

Finally, she heard a mighty rip and she held her breath as she heard the human whimper in fear. She listened intently as Shadow murmured something to the man. She fell to her knees and gave a huge, heaving sigh of relief when she heard the man running in the other direction. She was happy he hadn't killed the man, but she couldn't stop her crying. She barely heard Shadow land in front of her with two metal rods and strips of what she realized was the soldier's jacket.

She met his gaze with what she hoped was a fierce and defiant look. While he didn't seem cowed, his gaze did drop down to her bad arm. He knelt to her side and reached for it, "That must hurt for you to cry this hard..."

Her brows snapped together, "Excuse me?! You think this," she motioned to her tears, "Is because this hurts!? You almost killed someone!"

Now Shadow was glaring at her, "They shot at us first. Do you seriously expect the Ultimate Life form to simply not do anything?"

Amy's eyes squinted and her jaw dropped in absolute confusion, "The... what? Are you kidding me?! What do you mean 'Ultimate Life form!? You're just a kid!"

Shadow growled, "I'm no mere child and you know it."

"No! I don't! We just met!" she argued with a huff, "I don't even know who you are or what you did to end up here but if you're just going to go around murdering people I'll stuff your sorry butt right back into that pod!"

He rolled his eyes, "Well, I didn't murder him and now he's off to go get his friends. Now hold still. I need to reset this. Unless you want to try and stuff me in there with a broken arm and a toy hammer."

Amy pouted but her stomach rolled at the thought of the pain to come next. She screwed her eyes shut as tightly as possible while he felt along her arm gently to feel where the breaks were. When he didn't move to shift them after a time she peaked thru one eye to see him muttering to himself in confusion.

"Is it bad?" she asked, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.

Now she caught Shadow looking from the ceiling, to the floor, then her arm and back again, "It's not broken."

Amy's eyes widened, "What? No, of course it is, it hurts like nobody's business!"

Shadow shook his head, "I don't feel the break. There might be a hairline fracture but I don't feel anything that needs to be reset."

He stared at it intently for a few moments before he glared at her suspiciously, "Who the hell are you, anyway?"

Amy blushed before giving a sheepish giggle, "Right. Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself."

She held out her good hand to shake, "Amy Rose, at your service!"

Shadow eyed the outstretched hand, still skeptical of her- she'd answered one question but hadn't answered the important one. He hesitantly took her hand, gently shaking it, "Shadow, but it seems you already knew that."

Amy's blush intensified and her hand found its way to the back of her head, "Oh! That! Right, sorry, I have a really bad habit of figuring out people's names without any introductions. Just don't mind me, it'll get less scary the longer you know me…"

Shadow's glare came back in full force and Amy wondered briefly if that was just his natural face, "I'm not scared. Now- let's get this bandaged up."

She nodded and watched as he placed the two rods against her arm and commanded her to hold them still. He ripped the jacket into more strips and gently tied the rods to her arm. He then used the remainder of the jacket to make a roughshod sling and wrapped it gingerly around her shoulder and arm, setting it perfectly in place.

"Can you handle that until we get out of here?"

Amy stood, tentatively and took a few trial steps before she gave him a thumbs up, "Feels pretty okay to me! Let's go!"

Shadow nodded in assent and, before she could stop him, grabbed her bridal style and jumped them both out of the hole. When they reached the top Shadow gently put her down and eyed the hole Amy had dropped down from. Amy looked on in confusion as he pulled out Tails' chaos emerald.

"Uh... Shadow... whatcha doin'?"

He simply gave her a cryptic smile as he held it up, "It all starts with this- the jewel containing the ultimate power."

Amy looked on completely baffled and slightly amused but before she could ask he roared out, "Chaos Control!"

When they were met with nothing but silence, Amy had to do everything in her power to keep herself from laughing in his face. The urge to giggle became impossible to ignore as Shadow stared at the gem in confusion before holding it aloft again and crying out, "CHAOS CONTROL!"

Amy snickered under her breath as Shadow's confused look turned into one of pure rage as he shook the offending gem, "What the hell is wrong with this thing?"

Now Amy was outright laughing and Shadow turned his rage towards her, "This is NOT funny! Do you have any idea how we're supposed to get out of here without my chaos control? We're absolutely screwed without it!"

Amy's laughter slowly died down, but she had to remark, "But... I mean. Come on, that was a little funny. You were trying so hard..."

Shadow scoffed, "Well then you can laugh yourself into a grave. Unless you have a better way out of here?"

"Oh stop being so dramatic!" Amy cried, "That was probably Tails' project. You'll meet him once we're back."

She started walking towards the large open door and motioning for Shadow to follow, "Come on, Shadow the Warlock! Looks like we're taking the scenic route back up!"

As Shadow watched the pink hedgehog skip away he couldn't help but wonder if he really didn't want to kill her after all.

" **In good time** ," a voice rasped inside his head.

He wanted to ignore the way his heart sank at the thought. Although she was a bit grating, the girl was oddly impressive. She knew his name but not what he was or what he was capable of.

Getting her to do what he wanted was going to be... difficult.

He shook his head- it wouldn't matter in the end. Nothing mattered anymore.

He followed her out the door.


End file.
